1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a head cartridge for ejecting predetermined liquid onto an ejection object and a liquid ejection apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hitherto, in such a liquid ejection apparatus, an inkjet printer for example, a cleaning roller formed of a cylindrical porous material has been continuously maintained in contact with a nozzle surface of an ink ejection head of a head cartridge under a predetermined pressure so as to relatively move, so that stains or foreign bodies are removed by absorbing ink within an ink ejection nozzle and its vicinity using the capillarity produced in a cell (pore cell) of the porous material (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-266717, P5, FIGS. 6 to 8, for example).
However, in such a head cartridge in related art, ink is naturally absorbed into the cleaning roller by moving and continuously bringing the cleaning roller in contact with the nozzle surface under a predetermined pressure so as to use the capillarity produced in the cell of the porous material, so that ink is removed with no positive approach. Accordingly, ink stuck into the ink ejection nozzle or its vicinity so as to thicken may not be sufficiently removed because of the weak capillarity.